KOCHI: ‘Ab Kya Karna Hai?” (What should be done now?) This was what Asafak Alam asked advocate Binny Elizabeth, his translator, after she read the judgment to him in Hindi on Tuesday. For the first time since the start of the trial, he broke down.
Initially, Alam, who had never showed any emotion during the trial – he always remained quiet with his head bowed – reacted similarly when the verdict was pronounced in English. The court then directed Binny to translate. “Alam looked cool upon hearing the initial sentences, the ones about rigorous imprisonment. However, when I read the death sentence in Hindi, his face turned red. For the first time, I saw an emotion on his face,” Binny said.
After the proceedings, Alam was seated at a separate part of the courtroom. When Binny reached him, he was crying. ‘Ab Kya Karna Hai’, he asked. Later, he signed a paper agreeing to file an appeal before the Kerala High Court.
While Alam was being escorted out of the court later, people gathered before the courtroom clamoured for immediate execution of his sentence. The police safely took him to the vehicle and they left for Viyyur Central Jail.